Choir (architecture)
Architecturally, the choir (Anglican alt. spelling quire) is the area of a church or cathedral, usually in the western part of the chancel between the nave and the sanctuary (which houses the altar). The choir is occasionally located in the eastern part of the nave. In some monastic churches the choir occupies the western end of the nave and thus counterbalances the chancel and sanctuary.
The back-choir or retro-choir is a space behind the high altar in the choir of a church, in which there is a small altar standing back to back with the other.
Famous quotes containing the word choir:
“O thou, with dewy locks, who lookest down
Through the clear windows of the morning; turn
Thine angel eyes upon our western isle,
Which in full choir hails thy approach, O Spring!”
—William Blake (1757–1827)